WILLIAM NEAL BUTLER was the son of Samuel and Sarah (Hanson) Butler, born 14 Oct 1840 in Berwick, Maine [ME VR]. He died on 27 Jan 1917 in South Berwick, ME, aged 73 yrs, 3 mos,13 das, of Brights Disease and Influenza [ME VR]. He was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Berwick.

He married on 31 Mar 1866 [obit][intents filed 27 Mar 1866, cert.issued the 31st in South Berwick -VR of Berwicks p390] to LYDIA ELLEN BUTLER, the daughter of Nathaniel and Lydia (Bean) Butler of Berwick, ME. She was born in South Berwick, ME on 24 Apr 1840 [Thomas Butler & Desc. p142]. She died in 1920 [g.s.]. She had been in that year's census, living in South Berwick at age 79.

William worked as a farmer while living in Berwick, seen here through the 1870 census. After his move to South Berwick circa 1872, he went to work at the David Cummings Co shoe shop, employed as a cutter there for 38 years until a hand injury brought on his retirement. He was a member of C.W.Sawyer Post, No 18, GAR, and of the Olive Branch Lodge, No28, I.O.O.F. of S.Berwick. He was a member of South Berwick's Baptist Church [obit].

The ancestry of William and his wife, a distant cousin of his, can be found in Thomas Butler and His Descendants by George H Butler,MD.

William and Lydia had the following children [names/birth dates of first five from Thomas Butler & Desc p142]:

I. CARRIE E BUTLER, born 2 Feb 1867 in Berwick, ME. She married SAMUEL BUTLER BROWN of Boston, MA on 26 Sept 1894 [ME Marr Index] He was born in Berwick, ME [childrens birth rec's] on 1 Sept 1870 [or Sept,1871 -1900 census], the son of Joseph and Mary H (Butler) Brown of Berwick [VR of Berwicks p279]. His mother was a sister to William N Butler, making him a first cousin to Carrie. They lived in Somerville, MA [1900-10 censuses; Will.Butler's obit], where he worked as a bookkeepr in a piano office. 1910 census shows Carrie with three children, two of them still living: 1. Ralph Butler Brown, b. 17 Jan 1898 in Somerville,MA [MA VR v476 p383], died same city on 12 Mar 1898 of pneumonia at age 1 mo, 23 das [MA VR v482 p387]. He was buried in Evergreen Cem, Berwick, ME 2. Marion Elizabeth Brown, b. ca July 1899 in Somerville [MA VR not viewed] 3. Albert Samuel Brown, b. 3 July 1903 in Somerville,MA [MA VR v533 p615]

II. WILLIAM H BUTLER [called William N in Butler Gen], born 24 Feb 1869, likely in Berwick, ME. He died in 1934 [gravestone]. He married on 31 Oct 1905 [ME Marr Index] CORA PLANCHE, also of S. Berwick. She was born in Canada, immigrating here in 1884 [1920 S.Ber census]. She died in 1928 [gravestone]. As his father did, William worked as a shoe cutter, and lived in South Berwick. They had a son: 1. Ralph Butler, b. ca 1915 [age 4 6/12 in 1920; a.14 in 1930 S.Ber census]

III. GRACE E BUTLER, born 28 May,1870 [1871 on gravestone], perhaps in Berwick, ME. She died in 1930 [g.s.] She married MARK ADDISON LIBBY. He was the son of Mark and Eliza A Libby, born 1855 and died in 1940. They are buried at Portland St Cem., South Berwick, in his parents plot [YCCI p2054]. They had 5 children (vr not yet viewed): 1. Lauriston B Libby, b. 1897 and died in 1904 [YCCI p2054]. Buried with parents. 2. Mary E Libby, b.ca 1900 [age 10 in 1910 census; a.20 in 1920] 3. Mark W Libby, b. ca 1903 [age 7 in 1910; 17 in 1920] 4. Theodore A Libby, b. ca 1906 [a.4 in 1910; 14 in 1920] 5. Charles K Libby, b. 1907, d. in 1908 [YCCI p2054]. Buried with parents.

IV. ALBERT M BUTLER [middle initial N in Butler Gen], born 2 Aug 1873, probably in South Berwick. He was single in 1920, living with his mother in household of sister Grace Libby in South Berwick [census]. He died in 1933 [grave].

V. MARY FLORENCE BUTLER [Florence M in Butler Gen], born 14 Feb 1876. She married CHARLES NATHANIEL HARVEY of Salmon Falls, NH on 15 Dec 1908 [ME Marr Index]. He was a carpenter, and they lived on Young St in South Berwick,ME They had a daughter: 1. Helen M Harvey, born ca 1902 [age 8 in 1920 census; a.18 in 1930]

VI. LULIE A BUTLER, born in Nov 1879 [age 6/12 b. Nov in 1880 census]. She married, between the 1910+1920 censuses, CHARLES F WHITEHOUSE, who owned "C.F. Whitehouse Printing" on Central Ave, Dover, NH. Both were alive in 1948 [Dover Street Dir]. No children with them in 1920, unknown at this time if they had any.

VII. Perhaps the ETHEL S BUTLER, 1883 - 1884, buried with William and Lydia. 1910 data indicates Lydia had 7 children, 6 of them living at the time.